This is my personal blog which I began in February 2001. I called it The Obvious? when I wrote anonymously and chose the name to reflect the fact I have to overcome my inhibitions about stating the obvious!

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I had to screw a locking bolt on to the door of the hut in our garden today. I am not useless at DIY but this is the sort of thing that could easily drive me nuts. The screwdriver might slip in the screw. There might be knots in the wood that make it difficult to screw properly. I might have to stand in a difficult or awkward position to be able to get enough purchase to screw the screws in.

Any or all of the above would in the past have been enough to push me over the edge. I would have seen it as a personal attack on me that the process wasn't going well and would let it get to me at a very fundamental level. In response to such trivia I could really lose my temper.

None of that happened today. I have been practising mindfulness meditation again on a regular basis and today I was able just to notice what was happening. To notice the screw and how it was formed. To notice the screwdriver and how it felt in my hand. To notice me noticing the screwdriver. The end result was that I managed to screw the locking bolt onto the door with little effort and without once losing my temper.